


The Steadfast Wooden Heart

by MoonFireFic



Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/M, Folktales, Gen, Ianto Big Bang Challenge, M/M, Magic, Migrating old LJ Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 06:30:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10551648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonFireFic/pseuds/MoonFireFic
Summary: Long ago, when the City of Newport was still a village at the edge of a vast forest, the Rhoddin Coed or Heartwood Tree acted as guardian, watching over lovers who wed beneath his curling branches. After wishing for a true love of his own, the great oak is struck by lightning, sundering his trunk in twain until only the heartwood of the enchanted tree remains. When Merlin sees a glimpse of the future, he entrusts the precious heartwood to a young woodcutter by the name of Jones, and sets his family and the Rhoddin Coed on an enchanted journey that will span millennia and bind them together in ways he never imagined possible.Centuries later, after the Great War, a heartsick soldier carves a mannequin to sell suits in the family tailor shop and dubs his creation Ianto. As Ianto learns what it means to be truly human, the arrival of a man with laughing blue eyes brings him closer to finally experiencing his greatest wish – true love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is not the story I originally intended to tell. Somehow while researching Newport for another story, a sort of postcard to the city over the last century set against the backdrop of one man’s journey to find happiness sprang to life. Hope you like it.

**Prologue**  
_Outskirts of Casnewydd, Kingdom of_ _Gwynllwg_  
_5 th Century A.D._  
   
Using his staff to navigate the path hidden amongst the tree roots and ferns of the forest floor, the King’s Advisor and his companion, a young woodcarver by the name of Jones, made their way through the ancient forest surrounding the village of Casnewydd. 

As they reached a clearing deep in the heart of the wood, the tang of ash and burnt wood rent the air, and the Advisor raised his staff calling for them to stop. Closing his eyes he cleared his mind and listened for the source of the magic whispering for help on the soft summer breeze. Finding it once more, he renewed their trek, and the two men made their way through the sun-dappled wood to the clearing that was home to the _Rhuddin Coed_ or Heartwood Tree, the ancient guardian of the forest itself.

“Goddess preserve us,” Jones whispered in horror as he set down his pack and to more properly observe the destruction a stray bolt of lightning had wrought on the once noble oak.

The Rhuddin Coed had stood for centuries and as time wore on, its great branches had turned and twisted into intricate knots and patterns that filled the canopy of the clearing it called home. Tradition held that a pair of star-crossed lovers had escaped from a forced separation by their parents and taken shelter against the trunk of the tree during a storm. The mighty oak had been so affected by their love for one another that it had been curling it’s branches into love knots ever since. The beauty of the knot work had inspired the young men of the area, and it had become tradition for them to present an intricately carved wooden love spoon to the lady they wished to court and hopefully marry, as a token showing the sincerity of their intentions. The more intricate the spoon, the more devoted the suitor, and it was not uncommon to find love-struck young men sitting on the boulders surrounding the tree, trying to emulate the knot work of its branches in their designs.

It was considered good look for couples to pledge themselves beneath the tree’s branches, but none would dare take a branch for themselves or do the oak harm, for superstition held that if one was to harm the Rhuddin Coed, love would elude them forever more and their fate would be to die brokenhearted and alone.

All that had changed when a thunderstorm struck the mighty oak a few days before, burning its branches to ash, and leaving only a battered husk in its wake. Unsure of what to do, and afraid that the destruction of the Rhuddin Coed would mean disaster for the forest and Casnewydd itself, the village elders sent a runner to the King’s Advisor for help. The Advisor was a known expert in such matters, and had shown a personal interest in protecting the oak during his visit the previous winter. When he appeared in person a few days later, Ieuen Jones, a local woodcarver and distant kinsman of the Advisor, had been designated to escort him to the wood and help assess the damage.

As Ieuen stood guard, the King’s Advisor, better known as Merlin to his family and friends, placed his hands upon the charred trunk and whispered an incantation.

The trunk began to glow and Merlin stepped back to stand beside him, both of them watching as the wood cracked and crumbled to the ground, until only the unblemished core of the tree, the heartwood itself, lay exposed upon the ground where the great tree had once stood.

Taking a cloth from his robes, Merlin carefully wrapped up the cylinder of dark wood, just wider then a man’s forearm, and as tall as Ieuen’s knees. The woodcarver opened up his pack and placed the wood reverently inside, surprised when he felt warmth beneath his fingers, and couldn’t help but smile as a gentle feeling of love and happiness washed over him.

“You sense it then?” Merlin asked in surprise as his companion finished securing his pack. 

“Aye,” Ieuen answered. “The Rhuddin Coed was a guardian of hope and happiness in its first life, and it would seem that whatever magic it held has lived on.”

Merlin looked thoughtful. He had meant to take the heart of the enchanted tree back with him, hoping that the presence of an object that bestowed happiness in love on those it blessed would somehow ease the growing tensions between Arthur, Gwenhwyfar, and Lancelot before it was too late.

Glancing to where Ieuen was staring reverently at the bundle before him, he felt the tell-tale tingle across the back of his neck that meant strong magic was at work. Freeing his mind, he reached out with his senses and felt the Rhuddin Coed reach out to him. Images of lovers long gone flitted across Merlin’s mind and in his mind’s eye he saw the lonely tree gather all of its power and draw the lightening down to strike; risking destruction to start on the path to granting his greatest wish; to experience for himself the utter bliss of true love.

Humbled at the sacrifice the enchanted tree was willing to make, Merlin realized that the heartwood was intended for a much greater purpose; one that involved Ieuen Jones’ descendants, and a journey that would take centuries to complete.

Smiling at the fact that even in his old age magic still surprised him; Merlin turned to the young woodcarver and asked him a question that would place both Ieuen and the heartwood on the right path.

“If I entrust it to you and your line, will you promise only to use it sparingly, and then only for carving symbols of love and commitment?” he asked his kinsmen, biting his lip to keep from laughing as Ieuen’s eyes grew impossibly wide.

“It would be an honor to protect it,” Ieuen finally managed to reply, making a little bow that made him suddenly seem as noble as one of Arthur’s knights despite his roughhewn clothes.  
Merlin smiled and placed his hand upon his shoulder.

“You’re a good man Ieuen,” he said, squeezing his shoulder before he dropped his hand. “A better one then me I expect,” he added wryly.

Looking down at the wrapped bundle he gently placed his hand upon it in farewell and glimpsed a time in the distant future, where a man born of the magic within the wood beneath his palm would fulfill the wish the heartwood had made and find happiness with one of Ieuen’s descendants; a man with laughing eyes and a cloak of deepest blue.

Satisfied that he had made the right decision, he wished his kinsmen well and sent him on his way home.

Once he was alone, Merlin went back to the place where the oak had once stood and drawing on the magic of the forest, placed a heart shaped boulder where the Rhuddin Coed had stood. It would stand as a marker to ease the worry of the nearby village, and a tether to the magic of the wood so that perhaps one day when the future had glimpsed came to pass, he would know.  



	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One**  
_Newport, Wales – 1917_  
_Height of the Great War_

With her boys at the front fighting for King and country, Addie Jones was managing the family business on her own. Jones Brothers Tailoring had been around for nearly half a century and she’d be damned before she let all of the work her Huw had put into revitalizing it go to waste. Though the hours were long and the work unending, she always made a point of checking the casualty lists, saying a silent prayer of thanks each time the long list of Joneses did not include Hamish or Archibald. They had signed on with the 11th South Wales Borders, a battalion that always seemed to be in the thick of things and gave her no short of grey hairs from worrying about their safety. Information from the front was always slow and incomplete, so she tried to busy herself with the task of securing the family legacy while she waited. It was as she chatted with her friend Daphne over tea that she first realized she was ill. A good natured laugh turned into a coughing fit, that lead to a physician being called, and a dire diagnosis; Addie, while working so hard on her son’s future, had foregone her own.

“They’re coming back, you’ll see,” she told her physician four months later as another coughing fit took hold.

Shaking his head and frowning at the ever present rattle of her lungs, he held out a spoon of elixir hoping that the medicine would hold her long enough for her sons to return home unscathed.  
When the war ended and Archibald and Hamish finally returned, they found the strong, proud mother they had always known to be frail and weak in her bed.

“She waited for you my dears,” Daphne told them as she set down the tea service on her bedside table. “Always saying she couldn’t disappoint her boys; and here you are, safe and sound, just like she always said you’d be.” She gave them each a happy smile before patting Hamish on the arm and leaving them alone.

Hamish looked down at the cane resting against his leg and tried to ignore the twinge that meant walking tomorrow would be agony at best. Archibald moved to stand beside him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as he gently grasped his mother’s hand.

“Mum?” he asked as her eyelids fluttered and her blue eyes focused on his face.

“Archie?” she asked gripping his hand tight before turning to his side. “Hamish?”

“Hi Mum,” Hamish replied blinking back tears.

Addie Jones smiled up at her sons. “Oh boys, am I ever glad to see you!” she laughed as she released Archie and pushed herself up onto her pillows. “Now then, tell me all about your adventures,” she said, eyes dancing with fiery intelligence despite her fragile frame. “I can see that you’ve had a bit of trouble,” she added taking up Hamish’s hand as she glanced at his cane. “But we Jones are made of strong stuff. As long as the heartwood binds us all together, nothing can keep us down for long.”

Hamish and Archie shared a smile remembering the family legend about the mystical heartwood of an ancient oak said to be blessed by Merlin himself. The heartwood was used to carve the first set of marital love spoons in the Jones family, and a piece of it was passed on to each generation to carry on the tradition.

“Well?” Addie prompted, bringing the boys attention back to the present.

Archie chuckled as Hamish began to tell her of their adventures.

They told her what they could of the war, and the beautiful country they had passed through as they had made their way to the front. Addie regaled them with stories of the goings on in Newport and the status of the shop, dismissing the worried looks from her sons each time she coughed, determined to make sure they knew their legacy was intact. As the afternoon wore on, some of the tension in Archie’s shoulders eased, and the twinge in Hamish’s leg dulled to a low ache. Addie smiled to herself as her boys relaxed and some of the shadows fell from their eyes.  Her boys were finally home, and even though she knew her time was short, Addie Jones had found peace at last.

Addie passed away a few days later.

Hamish and Archie kept their promise to her and reopened the family business, using what little army pension they had to add to the inventory and spruce up the place to attract more customers. A year later the business was thriving, but Hamish was bored. He had never wanted to be a tailor. It was Archie whom Dad had brought in with him all those years ago, and though Hamish had a good eye for color and design, he was all thumbs when it came to sewing. Discontent, he took to spending long hours in the back room, meaning to sketch out designs before his mind wandered and he began drawing scenes from the war, several of them featuring a handsome young man with intelligent eyes, a button nose, and a smirk on his lips.

Seeing his brother slipping into despair, Archie knew he had to do something. Hamish had never spoken of how he got his injury, but one of the nurses in the hospital had confided that he had been attempting to rescue another soldier; one with whom he had shared a close friendship. As Archie saw him draw the same man over and over again, he was certain that this must be the friend he had been unable to save. After hearing the soft step-tap of Hamish walking the floor into the wee hours of the morning, Archie glanced over to where the heartwood rested inside his great-grandmother’s hope chest and began to formulate a plan.

The next morning he met Hamish at the breakfast table and handed him an advertisement.

“What’s all this?” he asked staring at the advert in confusion.

“We need something to draw in customers,” Archie explained. “I am thinking a mannequin, you know a clothes dummy, something to showcase our work and draw in customers?”

“But these are more than we make in six months!” Hamish exclaimed looking at the prices.  
Archie smiled.

“I was thinking we could make one ourselves,” he said nonchalantly as he sipped his tea. “You were always a fair hand with wood carving as a kid, and the way you draw, I am certain you can come up with something.”

Hamish blinked.

“You mean I can work on this and take time off from the store?” he asked in surprise.

Archie nodded. “Lorna, who owns the millinery shop next door, is willing to loan me her assistant for fittings until you’re done. In return, we will feature her men’s hats in our window. It’s all arranged.”

“You‘re assuming I’ll say yes aren’t you?” Hamish asked with a frown.

“Haim, we both know you aren’t cut out for the tailor business,” Archie shrugged. “Who knows, maybe your design will be so good you make a go of it and get out of the tailor business all together?”

Hamish looked back down at the advert. “I can design it however I want right?” he asked before looking back up at his brother.

“Just make sure it looks good enough to sell a few suits,” answered Archie with a grin.  
Hamish chuckled and flipped the advert over, ideas already forming in his mind.

~~~~~~~~

A month later, the mannequin was finished.

Hamish had kept his work hidden inside the tool shed behind the house, not letting Archie or anyone else see it until it was done. He had wrapped his creation up in sheets and brought it in this morning, keeping it in the back room until it was dressed and ready.

“Are you about done?” Archie asked impatiently from the front of the shop where he, Lorna, and Maureen her assistant were waiting.

“Just about, have you got that stand ready to go?” Hamish called back.

Archie rolled his eyes. “Yep, get on with it, we open in twenty minutes.”

The curtains rustled and Hamish emerged, shuffling forward as he carried a suited figure in his arms. He went over to the stand and stood the mannequin upright, leaning him back against it, positioning his legs and arms and before turning to stand in front of it and face the others.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ianto Jones, man about town,” Hamish said with flourish as he stepped away.

The mannequin, while carved from wood, was very lifelike. Hamish had even given him articulated limbs, feet, and hands, allowing him to hold the umbrella that he had placed in his fingers with ease. His hair was dark brown, and though made of wood, had been styled with a small wave to it, as if it was made up of messy curls trying to spring free. Grey-blue eyes stared out above a button nose and a smirk of a half-grin, making up a handsome face that Archie immediately recognized from Hamish’s drawings.

“Ooooh he’s a handsome devil isn’t he?” Lorna gushed, stepping forward to look closer. “You’ve done a right good job of it with this Hamish, the lads will be lining up for one of Archie’s suits once their gals see him that’s for sure.”

Hamish grinned. “I modeled him after a friend of mine from the war,” he explained, seeing Archie’s worried expression. “Before he died, every nurse from here to Paris was half in love with John.”

“But why did you call him Ianto if the man he was modeled after was called John?” Maureen asked curiously.

“Cause Ianto’s Welsh for John you silly girl,” Lorna scolded as Maureen glared back at her. “And since he was made in Newport, from local wood, he’s as Welsh as they come.”

Hamish laughed. “She’s right. Even if he looks a bit like my friend John, he can never replace him.” His face clouded over for a moment. “At least this way I won’t forget what he looks like.”

“You did a grand job Hamish. Let’s get him up in the window then shall we?” Archie asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Hamish shook himself and nodded, and the two of them placed Ianto up in the window, turning his head towards the street to greet the day for the very first time.

~~~~~~~~

It was an ordinary Tuesday when Ianto became aware. At first it was just a kaleidoscope of colors, sounds, and shapes dancing at the edge of his consciousness, but over time they coalesced and converged until suddenly the world outside his window came into focus, as he watched in wonder.

Every morning people would walk past going to work, school, or any of a thousand other amazing places that he could imagine. The tiny sparrow that sang in the day from his perch atop the oak tree at the far side of the street became a welcome companion, and as he listened to the lilting accents of the shoppers and passersby, he found solace in the simplicity of their everyday lives.  Sometimes they would come into the shop and order a suit, and then Archie and Hamish would get to work measuring and designing and cutting the rich fabrics that adorned the shelves behind him. Ianto longed to turn his head and watch them, but as he couldn’t move, he was content to observe their images reflected on the glass before him; memorizing every movement of the subtle dance of tailorship and watching them work with pride.

Some nights after the curtain was drawn across his window and the store closed, Hamish would linger late into the evening after Archie left, taking Ianto out of the window and sitting him down in one of the armchairs beside the mirrors to talk. He said a great many things, not all of which Ianto understood, but somehow he knew that just saying them made Hamish feel better. He always put Ianto back in the window before he left, and asked him not to tell Archie, and even though Ianto knew he could not, he kept his promise all the same.

Months rolled by and soon it was winter, bringing snow drifts and Christmas carols to the ever changing tableau outside his window. Ianto was sporting a winter coat over his suits and Miss Lorna added a dashing black fur hat to go with it. Customers seemed to be much more frequent, spending their hard earned bank notes on ‘just the right tie’ or ‘the perfect waistcoat for Dad’. It was during the holiday rush that Mr. Lundy first came to the shop.

When Mr. Lundy stopped to stare at him outside his window, Ianto thought he was merely admiring the cut of his waistcoat, or the fine fur collar of his winter coat. But when he came inside and inquired as to whether Ianto was for sale, he was at first excited about the possibility of adventure then worried that he would be taken from his family. To his relief, Artie refused to sell him, even when Mr. Lundy informed them that he was a mannequin maker in Paris, searching for new designs. He had inquired as to Ianto’s maker and upon meeting Hamish, was surprised to find a war veteran with such skilled hands. After examining Ianto more closely, and making him decidedly uncomfortable as only Hamish or Archie had touched him before, Lundy offered Hamish a job at his factory in Paris, designing and overseeing construction of a line of more realistic clothes models for department stores.

Hamish had shaken hands on it and Ianto’s world changed overnight. Hamish was full of plans and preparations, and Archie seemed at once proud and afraid for his brother. The day before Hamish was due to leave, he pulled Archie aside after the store had closed, asking him to bring Ianto down from the window. As Archie watched, Hamish unbuttoned Ianto’s waist coat and shirt, exposing his chest to show his brother the secret compartment inside.

“I know you suspected, and I want you to know the truth,” Hamish said to his brother as he flipped the catch and exposed the rough hewn heart inside. He pulled an intricately carved replacement heart from his pocket and held it in his hand.

Archie’s breath caught. “They’re both made from the heartwood aren’t they?” he asked, recognizing the dark sheen and tell-tale grain of the family treasure.

Hamish nodded. “The first was just a place holder, and I’ll keep it with me as a reminder of home,” he said with a soft smile as he lifted it from Ianto’s chest and slipped it into his pocket. “I loved and lost John before I could give him anything to show how I felt,” he added kissing the dark wood of the carved heart placing it where the other had been. “Ianto bears his likeness so that he isn’t forgotten. Maybe by giving him this, somehow John will know how much he is missed.” He closed up the cache with loving hands and resettled Ianto’s clothes before placing him back in the window, gently kissing Ianto’s cheek in farewell once he was back at his post.

“Goodbye,” Hamish whispered quietly before stepping back down to join his brother.

As the two men left for the evening Ianto felt a strange tingling sensation that began in his chest before spreading out to the tips of his fingers and toes to the very roots of his molded hair. Long after the brothers had gone, he felt his fingers flex and blinked in surprise.

For by placing the heartwood he had lovingly carved for his lost love inside his chest, Hamish had given Ianto something he had never bargained for: life.  



	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two**   
_July 1920_

“Morning!” Maureen called out as she stepped inside Jones Brothers. In the six months since Hamish had left for Paris, she had taken to stopping by in the morning to check up on Archie and see how he was doing.  At first it had seemed to be merely neighborly, but when Ianto noticed Archie starting to straighten his tie, and brush down his waistcoat each morning in anticipation of her arrival, he wondered if maybe she might be as fond of Archie as he obviously was of her. He had seen both of them blush when their hands touched, and he was certain that at the very least, Maureen was fond of him. But so far the two of them were still dancing circles around each other, hiding what appeared to be growing affection under genteel politeness and concern.

“Here’s the latest shipment of fabric,” Maureen added setting a parcel on the counter. “Can’t stay long, we are booked solid with dresses and hats for Saturday’s dance up at Beechwood House.”

“Sounds like a grand affair,” he replied with a smile. “Never was much one for dancing, I tend to get a bit flustered with all the steps. Besides the girls always chose Hamish first; never without a full dance card that one.”

Maureen smiled. “Maybe you just haven’t found the right partner?” she teased.

“Maybe,” he admitted trying not to blush. “Are you,” he started to ask before clearing his throat. "What I mean to say is: will you be attending the dance Miss Maureen?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered noncommittally. “Daffyd Humphries over at the greengrocers asked me, but I haven’t given him an answer yet.”

“Oh,” Archie replied crestfallen.

Ianto turned his head slightly in concern and saw him quickly collect himself.

“Then I hope you and Mr. Humphries have a lovely evening,” Archie stiffly replied.

“I haven’t said yes to him yet!” Maureen laughed. “There’s someone else I would much rather go with, even if he thinks he has two left feet,” she added with a smile.

Ianto had to fight to keep the grin off his face, so Maureen did like him! Now if only Archie would get over his innate shyness and just ask her. He saw Archie reach up and straighten his tie nervously and begin to speak.

“Could you, that is to say would you…” Archie began only to be interrupted by the bell over the door.

“Maureen!” a flustered Lorna scolded pushing the door open. “Lady Marchum is due any moment for her fitting. No time for chatter, get a move on girl!”

“Alright, alright,” Maureen huffed, making her way to the door.

“Morning Archie,” Lorna acknowledged, slipping the tape measure off her neck as she stepped back outside to return to her shop.

Maureen followed her out, but stopped as she reached the door.

“See you later Archie Jones,” she said with a soft smile.

“Bore da, Miss Maureen,” Archie answered as he watched her go.

As soon as the door closed, Archie walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back, flooding the shop with warm summer sun.

“Oh Ianto,” Archie sighed as he stood beside him. “What am I going to do? If I can’t even ask Maureen to the dance, how will I ever be able to tell her that I am hopelessly in love with her?”

Ianto didn’t answer. He still hadn’t told Archie the truth about him yet, and he wasn’t about to while inside the window where the whole of Charles Street could see. But as he listened to Archie talk about how much Maureen meant to him, he came to a decision; he was going to find a way to help him win her heart and ask her to the dance, even if it meant risking his own safety.

~~~~~~~~

Later that night, after Archie had closed up and gone home, Ianto stepped out of the window and put his plan into action.

Over the last six months, he had used his evenings alone in the shop to explore his newfound mobility, finding subtle ways to help Archie out and make running the shop a little easier. But tonight he planned on foregoing the sweeping, dusting, and tidying up, and went straight to the storage room to retrieve his coat and hat from the previous winter. Grabbing a discarded pair of Hamish’s gloves and a soft grey scarf, he headed back into the main part of the store, opening up the till and taking out several coins; counting them carefully before placing them into his pocket and scribbling down a short note to explain why they were missing. Donning his coat, hat, and gloves, he wrapped the scarf carefully around the lower half of his face, turning up his collar and pulling his hat low, hoping that it was enough to make him appear human. Snatching up the spare key from the cupboard he stood in front of the door for a moment in hesitation, before squaring his shoulders and hurrying out into the night, locking the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~

The following morning Archie arrived at the shop early, wanting to get a head start on the day, and hopefully convince himself to ask Maureen to the dance. As he stepped inside, nothing was amiss, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different. Whistling to himself, he turned on the kettle in the back room for tea and went about his business, hoping that he had enough time to figure out what he was going to say to Maureen before she arrived at half past eight.

At eight twenty-five, he made his way back to the front of the shop, unlocking the front door and opening the till, hoping to keep himself busy until Maureen’s arrival.

Pulling the side arm, the cash drawer slid open, exposing a scrap of paper bearing his name atop the cluster of bank notes and coins inside. With trembling fingers, he opened it, wondering how it got there. Upon it was a short note, written in a spidery scrawl, as if the writer was unused to writing with a pen.

_Archie –_

_First of all, please don’t panic! Nothing is missing from the shop, but after observing the exchange between yourself and Miss Maureen, I could no longer stand by and let you suffer in silence. I took the liberty of borrowing 10p and purchased a bouquet of forget-me-nots, which, if I overheard Mrs. Lorna correctly are Miss Maureen’s favorites. You’ll find them in the vase beside me, waiting for you to give them to her when she arrives this morning. Please Archie, you deserve a little happiness. We can discuss how I was able to get them later, but right now you have a lady to win, and if you are on schedule, the lady in question should be arriving right about now._

_Sincerely,_  
_Ianto Jones_

Archie finished reading and looked up to find Ianto staring back at him kindly.

“How?” Archie asked, dropping the letter in surprise.

But Ianto just shook his head and turned back to the front of the window as the door bell jingled announcing Maureen’s arrival.

“Morning!” Maureen sang out as she breezed into the shop. “I’ve got your half of the thread purchase with me,” she added, not noticing Archie’s stunned expression. “Have to dash back though, its hat day at Lorna’s and she’ll have my head if I dawdle.”

She dropped off the box of thread spools and seemed to notice for the first time that Archie wasn’t paying attention.

“Archie?” she asked, snapping her fingers. “You alright?”

Archie shook himself and smiled at her. “Miss Maureen, sorry I was off with the faeries,” he said chuckling at himself as he realized how close to the truth that was. “I realize that you are in a bit of a rush, but would you mind if I walked you to the door?”

“That would be lovely,” Maureen answered, blushing prettily.

Archie nodded and stepped from behind the counter to walk her back to the front of the shop.

“Wait right here,” he said as they reached the door, and he turned to the window to retrieve the bouquet that Ianto had placed there. Glancing up at his silent companion, he saw Ianto wink at him and he shook his head in disbelief before turning back to where Maureen stood waiting.

“Miss Maureen,” Archie began, clutching the bouquet in his hands like a lifeline. “I would be most honored if you would let me escort you to the dance this Saturday.” Not sure what to do next, he thrust the flowers towards her, hoping she would accept.

“Oh they’re gorgeous!” Maureen exclaimed as she gathered them in her arms. “My favorites, how did you know?”

Archie blushed and glanced to his right where Ianto stood. “Bit of magic,” he answered enigmatically. “Will you then?” he asked, fiddling with his shirt cuff. “That is to say, will you go with me?”

“Of course I will,” she answered with a smile. “I was just waiting for you to ask.”

“Right. Wonderful, thank you,” Archie answered, feeling himself flush in embarrassment.

Maureen smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

“I need to head back or Lorna is going to be cross,” she said as opened the door. “Thanks for the flowers, and see you tomorrow night at seven?”

“Seven it is then,” Archie replied with a smile.

Maureen smiled back and left.

Archie stood on the doorstep smiling as he watched her step inside Lorna’s next door.

Stepping back inside Jones Brothers, he quickly flipped the sign over to closed and locked the door. After making certain that the curtain was firmly shut over the front window, He faced Ianto.

“We need to talk,” he said, crossing his arms and staring at what had until today been merely a carved visage.

“Indeed we do sir,” Ianto replied as he eased off the stand and stepped out of the window.

Archie raised an eyebrow and watched him sit down in one of the armchairs beside the mirror.

“I’m not hallucinating am I?” he asked, still not believing what he was seeing was real.

“I don’t believe so,” Ianto replied with a smirk. “But I have never experienced such a phenomenon myself, so I couldn’t really say.”

Archie walked over and sat down heavily in the other armchair.

“How long have you been like this?” he asked, still staring in wonder at his wooden companion.

“I could only see and hear originally,” Ianto answered. “But when after Hamish gave me the new heart; well, you can see the rest.”

Archie’s eyes went wide as he realized what must have happened.

“It was the heartwood wasn’t it?” he asked, realizing that the family legends must be true.

“Near as I can tell,” Ianto confirmed holding up his hand and flexing it. “I wanted to tell you, but I wasn’t sure if it would last.”

“Can I?” Archie asked, as his eyes flickered to Ianto’s chest.

Ianto nodded and began to unbutton his waistcoat. Once the smooth expanse of pale wood that made up his chest was exposed, Archie leaned forward, looking for the cache to the little compartment Hamish had shown him before.

“It’s sealed shut,” Archie said as he ran his hand over it. A faint thump could be felt under his fingers and he looked up in wonder at the grey-blue eyes of the impossible man before him. “You even have a heartbeat,” he said in surprise.

“So I’m alive then?” Ianto asked, biting his lip.

Archie smiled at him and sat back. “So it would seem.”

Ianto nodded and began to right his clothes. His mind was racing. Somehow he had been brought to life, and as near as he could tell, it was permanent.

“We need to be careful though,” Archie said interrupting his thoughts. “If anyone finds out about you, there is no telling what they would do.”

Ianto shivered, remembering the feral way Mr. Lundy had examined him as if he couldn’t wait to take him apart piece by piece.

“I take it the tidy shape of the shop is your doing?” Archie asked, realizing that Ianto must have been cleaning after hours.

Ianto ducked his head I acknowledgement. “It helps pass the time.”

Archie chuckled. “I bet it does. But you must have been out before; you got the flowers for Maureen.”

“The first time I went outside was last night, but I promise only to do that in an extreme emergency,” Ianto vowed.

“Just be careful, that’s all I ask,” Archie replied.

Ianto nodded.

“Well I best open up, or the gossips will wonder if I fainted away after asking Maureen to the dance,” Archie said with a scowl.

Ianto rolled his eyes.

“Oh they would. They tend to park themselves on the bench outside Lorna’s quite a bit and their voices carry,” he said disdainfully. “If I hear about the pertness of the boot maker up the street’s bum one more time I swear I am going to scream.”

Archie laughed and Ianto grinned before stepping back up to his place in the window.

“Don’t worry about me sir,” Ianto said as he settled himself against the stand. “I’ll make sure and keep quiet until the last patron has gone home.”

Archie nodded and reached up for the cord to open the curtain.

“Ianto?” he asked, watching as the other man turned to him curiously.

“Yes Archie?”

“Thank you,” Archie replied simply.

“Anytime,” Ianto replied turning back to the front as he settled his features back into place.

Archie smiled fondly and pulled the cord, watching as Ianto’s lips twitched into a soft smile as the bustling world outside came into view.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three**

Archie and Maureen married later that year. Ianto watched from the shadows at the back of the church and raised his hand in greeting as the happy bride and groom passed by; knowing Archie had seen him by the huge grin that broke out on his face as he nodded in his direction.

A year later Matthew or Mattie as they called him was born, and Addie (named for her grandmother) followed soon after. The Jones family settled into an easy rhythm with Maureen keeping house, and Archie running the shop with a little help from Ianto, who found that all his hours of watching Archie work had helped give him a jump start on a seemingly natural ability with a thread and needle.

When the smallpox epidemic broke out in 1924, Lorna fell ill and though she recovered, decided it was time to retire. After much convincing on her part, she gave the deed to the shop to Archie and Maureen, asking them to take good care of it. The wall between the two businesses was struck down, and during the remodel, Ianto was brought to the family home on the outskirts of town to ensure his safety. It was during this time that Archie told Maureen of Ianto’s secret, and his part in bringing them together. Maureen had taken it all in stride and promptly put him to work helping her run the household while Archie oversaw the remodeling plans.

Ianto found himself acting as nursemaid to two toddlers and spending just as much time outdoors as in. Weeks passed, and the new store was complete. Archie asked him if he wanted to go back, and Ianto hesitated; after so much time living and being ‘Uncle Ianto,’ he knew it would be very hard to go back to merely watching the world and not being part of it.

“You can stay here if you want,” Maureen offered, and Ianto felt his heart swell.

They decided on having him spend three days in the shop and four at home, so that Ianto could still have some sense of normalcy away from his role as the main attraction in the shop window.  
And so the Jones family settled into a regular routine, weathering the ups and downs of the twenties and thirties, and watching Mattie and Addie grow up.

Years went by and suddenly it was 1938.

As the fear of war drew closer, the city council issued 96,000 gas masks to residents and an air raid shelter was built in Brunel Street.

All people could talk about was the coming war and how Hitler was already on the move solidifying alliances with both Italy and Japan.

All Mattie could think about was how when he turned eighteen the following year, he was going to enlist. Archie had tried to talk him out of it, telling him the truth about the horrors he had experienced in the Great War, but Mattie’s head was so full of the possibility of being a dashing war hero and wearing a uniform, that he barely heard a word he said.

“He’s going to get himself killed,” Archie complained to Ianto one evening as the two of them settled into the lounge after supper. “I’ve seen it before, brave young men just like him, eyes full of stars and glory, never realizing the horrors they are about to face until it’s too late.”

“You came out of it alright,” Maureen observed from the settee where she was knitting a new pair of mittens for Addie.

“I did at that,” Archie agreed. “But Hamish was never the same. Ianto can attest to that.”  
Ianto stared into the fireplace, remembering the broken man who had created him and how he would sit up late into the evening telling him of the horrors he had faced.

“I don’t think he knew what to do with the memories,” he finally replied. “He really loved John and seeing someone you love die can shatter a man. I think he saw his leg as retribution from God for not saving him. I think I was a way of him finding absolution.”

“He’s never coming back,” Archie answered sipping his after dinner glass of cognac. “He’s living in Paris with a man called Alexi now and I worry what will happen to him if Hitler decides to invade.”

Maureen shuddered. “That’s quite enough gloom and doom out of you Archibald Jones,” she scolded. “Mattie won’t be eighteen for at least a year yet, and I advise you to enjoy him while you can. He’s as pig headed as his father when he has his mind made up, and if you can’t convince him otherwise, he’s going to be the first one in line as soon as he’s of age.”

Ianto smiled at her fondly. Even with grey marring her ginger hair, Maureen Jones was still a force of nature.

“Now if you’re done grousing, turn on the wireless, they’re supposed to have that new Billie Holiday song, ‘ _I’m Gonna Lock My Heart’,_ on the evening program.”

Ianto and Archie exchange a look and Archie got up to turn on the wireless.

“He’s just worried you know,” Ianto said quietly.

“So am I,” Maureen answered with a sigh. “But our Mattie is as stubborn as he is, and I intend to keep him safe as long as I can.”

Ianto nodded, knowing she was worried about her son running off to enlist early and lying about his age, like so many other young men had already done.

~~~~~~~~

Mattie turned eighteen on September 1st. Two days later Britain declared war on Germany.

Despite his father’s misgivings, Mattie was determined to enlist and went down to register.

“I leave next week,” he announced over dinner one evening. “I signed up for the army just like you Dad; I wanted to make you proud.”

“I’m already proud of you son,” Archie replied with a sad smile. “I know I can’t stop you, but promise me to be careful, they have a lot more than just guns nowadays and they were bad enough.”

“Not to worry,” Mattie grinned. “I’ll be stringing up Hitler’s goons and back before Easter just you wait and see.”

Mattie left the following Tuesday, standing tall and proud in his uniform as he hugged Maureen and Addie goodbye.

“Take care of them for me,” he said to Ianto as he shook his hand.

“I promise,” Ianto replied with a soft smile.

“And you always keep your promises,” Mattie grinned, remembering how Ianto had never told his parents about the time he had tried to run away, only to end up stuck up a tree after being chased by a neighbor’s dog until Ianto got him down.

Ianto winked at him. “That I do.”

Mattie turned to Archie.

“This is it old man,” he said holding out his hand.

Archie looked down at his hand and pulled his son in for a hug and closed his eyes silently praying this was not the last time he would see him.

“Be safe,” he finally said as he released him, clenching his jaw to blink back tears.

Mattie nodded and reached down to grab his rucksack.

“See you soon!” he said with a wave as he walked up the lane to where the bus waited.

“He’ll be back before we know it,” Maureen reassured her husband as he put his arm around her.

As Ianto watched the bus roll up the street and out of sight, he could only pray that she was right.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four**

The next several years passed in a blur of rationing, air raids, blackouts, and scattered letters from  
Mattie letting them know he was alright.

Ianto started living at the house full time, as the rest of the family feared he would be caught in one of the air raids that seemed to be more and more frequent. Addie had found herself an admirer in one of the American G.I.’s stationed at Camp Malpas, causing the last of Maureen’s lovely ginger hair to turn a decidedly darker shade of grey. Moving quickly as people do in wartime, Sergeant Davis asked Archie for Addie’s hand in marriage and a simple ceremony at St. Mary’s Church was organized within weeks. Two months later Davis shipped out for France, and Addie started watching the casualty lists, waiting for her husband to come home.

By May 1944, the D-Day invasion fleet had taken over the Alexandra Docks, and the entire family was working in the shop trying to keep up with all of the orders for uniform repairs prior to the launch. Ianto, who by now was a master tailor in his own right, kept himself busy in the workroom, sewing late into the night long after Archie himself had fallen asleep in one of the armchairs.

When they finally finished, the four of them went down to the docks to watch the ships launch. Ianto had pulled his hat down low and worn a pair of sunglasses and driving gloves to help hide his hands and face, but in the flurry of well wishers waving flags and cheering on the ships as they left port, no one seemed to notice him. Squeezing Addie’s hand, the two of them waved their flags alongside the rest, hoping that the mission was successful and the war would finally come to an end.

A year later Victory in Europe was declared and the war began to draw to a close. During the celebrations that followed, Ianto found himself swept up by a drunken group of merrymakers, and received his first kiss from an enthusiastic young lady who had imbibed in a bit too much brandy. As he reeled from the sensation, she giggled and skipped off to join her friends, declaring that he tasted _‘ _piney’_._ Worried that he had been caught, he scurried back to the shop and spent the next hour staring at himself in the mirror running his fingers across his lips, trying to understand how the simple gesture had made him feel so warm and unsettled. He asked Addie about it later, and she just smiled and kissed his cheek, telling him that love was the one thing in the universe that no one could ever really understand. Puzzled, Ianto made a point of observing how humans expressed love, and found himself wondering if he would ever find someone to share his heart.

Heavy rains followed the VE Day celebrations, and as the year turned, life started to return to normal in Newport. Mattie had written to say he was delayed in France and sent them a picture of him alongside Uncle Hamish and a tall man with dark hair, who he identified as Alexi, and Archie breathed a sigh of relief that his brother and son had both made it through the war in one piece.

When Mattie returned that fall, he brought Sergeant Davis back with him. Addie was so overjoyed to see her husband she didn’t even notice his pinned up sleeve until half an hour later. After recuperating with the Joneses for a few months, he asked Addie if she would return to America with him to meet his family. Three weeks later the two of them were waving from the deck of an ocean liner bound for New York, with the intricately stitched christening gown and cap from ‘Uncle Ianto’ stowed inside Addie’s trunk. She sent him a picture of little Iona Mae wearing it the following spring, along with a volume of Fairy Tales she had found along with it, inscribing it with instructions for him to think of the stories he had told to her as a child when he read it.

Ianto cried sap-like tears as he read her letter, and rubbed at the ache in his chest as he thought of his little princess all grown up.

Mattie was honorably discharged and joined a fire department in Swansea, trading one uniform for another. He married a local girl in 1951, and had several children of his own, naming his firstborn Archibald in honor of his Dad.

Hamish returned home briefly in 1955 to celebrate Archie’s sixtieth birthday, and brought Alexi and their adopted son Pieter with them. Pieter had a knack for design and decided to stay behind in Newport to help Archie run Jones Brothers and since he was getting on in years, Archie decided to retire.

Ianto, unsure if he could trust the newcomer, decided to leave the shop as well. Mattie bought him a little black and white kitten that he named Alissa to keep him company, and Ianto spent his days with Archie and Maureen, tending to their little garden, reading, and taking care of his beloved family.

When Maureen passed away fifteen years later, Ianto’s world changed once again.

~~~~~~~~

_Swansea - 1970_

“Are you all set Dad?” Mattie asked as he surveyed the guest room that now belonged to his father. After Maureen passed away, Archie had been inconsolable, and Ianto in desperation had called Mattie, asking for help. Archie hardly spoke nowadays, and spent most of his time staring longingly at old photos, tracing the lines of his lost love’s face.

When he didn’t respond, Mattie looked up to see Ianto watching Archie in concern, and for the first time he realized just how hard it must be for his adopted uncle to watch all those he knew and loved grow old and pass on, while he remained always the same. Sunlight played over his features, and Mattie saw that even the slight blush of his cheeks was just as vibrant as the day it was first painted.

Only the old fashioned cut of his suit gave away his age.

Once Archie settled down to sleep, the two of them made their way downstairs to the lounge to discuss what was to be done.

“We’ll have to sell the house,” Mattie said with a sigh. “I can’t afford two mortgages, and we’ll need the extra money as Pieter is having a hard time at the shop; everyone wants platform shoes, plaid suits, and hot pants now. No one appreciates a well-made suit anymore.”

Ianto nodded. “What about Archie?” he asked.

“The kids are in school and Lowri works most days now so there is no one to take care of him,” Mattie said shaking his head. “I’m still needed down at the station, sure it’s more administrative now, but I still put in a full day.”

“I’ll take care of him,” Ianto decided.

“But it’s not fair to you,” Mattie replied. “Sitting with him as he fades away; you need to go out there and find a life of your own, Ianto; you’re as much a part of this family as the rest of us and you deserve to be happy.”

“But where would I go?” Ianto reasoned. “Look at me Mattie. I’m a caricature of a man, just human looking enough to pass on a glance, but not enough to find love or make it on my own.”

Mattie started to protest and Ianto held up his hand to stop him.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love our family. The only reason I exist is because of them. I owe you all so much. Please let me do this, if my being there even gives him a shred of comfort, I will see it through to the very end.”

Mattie closed his eyes in defeat. “Alright, you win.”

“I thought you would see it my way,” Ianto replied with a sly grin. “But if perchance you happen to run across a fit young lady with a penchant for wood, make sure you send her my way.”

Mattie laughed. “Why Ianto Jones, I had no idea you were so naughty,” he said with a grin.

“Been sitting on that one a while,” Ianto smirked. “Besides, I found your father’s Playboy’s in the storage shed. Can you blame me for being curious?”  



	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five**   
_Newport - 2005_

Ianto stayed with Mattie and Lowri taking care of Archie until he passed on in 1984 at the ripe old age of eighty-nine.

The world had entered a digital age and everyone was looking for the next big thing as technology turned the world into an army of consumers. The Joneses had downsized the shop back to its original size to cut costs, and a slew of ready-made retail stores sprang up on Charles street alongside it, making the signboard outside declaring _Jones Brothers Tailoring – Established 1885,_ seem dated and quaint alongside the barrage of newsstands, video stores, florists, cafes, and salons.

Pieter had retired and moved back to Paris, and Mattie’s son, Archie Jr. had taken over the day to day running of the shop. Ianto had gone to help him, enjoying the sensation of having well woven fabric between his fingers once more. He still spent time in the window now and then, marveling at the changes to the world outside, but secure in the fact that even as they changed, things still remained the same. Girls still gathered outside the shops to gossip, and even though the fashions were different, and the slang more crass, they still tittered and teased each other much like the ladies outside Lorna’s had done so long ago.

The eighties faded into the nineties, and as the century turned, a sense of nostalgia and a longing for times long past brought Jones Brothers back into the limelight. Ianto retreated once more into the shadows, watching with pride as another generation of Joneses ran the shop that Archie had loved so much. A new store sprang up across the street in the spring of 2005, and Ianto watched with interest as the small windows of the space that was once a greengrocer’s were remodeled into one large display window. Soon a sign went up over the door proclaiming the shop to be _Out of Time – Museum Quality Costumes for Every Era_.

A few days later, Ianto watched in fascination as trucks pulled up with racks bearing apparel from times long past and he wondered what kind of person would own such a place.

The following morning, his question was answered.

The bell over the door rang at precisely 8:30AM just as Caitlin; the latest Jones to run the shop had finished sorting the till.

“Well hello there!” called out a boisterous voice, from the sounds of it American. Ianto, not expecting anyone this early, had been sorting the fabric for an appointment later on that afternoon, and quickly froze in place, hoping that he hadn’t been seen.

“Bore da,” Caitlin answered, eyeing the 1940’s style attire that the man was wearing with interest.

“What can I help you with sir?”

“Jack Harkness,” he announced holding out his hand. “I own the shop across the street. And you are?”

Ianto fought to keep from raising his eyebrow at the flirtatious tone.

“Caitlin Jones,” Caitlin answered primly giving his hand a quick shake before jerking her hand away and crossing her arms. “Fifth generation proprietor of Jones Brothers, and fifteen minutes away from my first appointment.”

Jack looked taken aback by her answer, and Ianto bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Caitlin had inherited Maureen’s feisty streak in spades. Very few men were able to charm her, and the few that could, she liked to keep on their toes.

“I see,” Jack said eyeing her warily. “Well then, I’ll get right to the point.” He lifted up the garment bag he was carrying and pulled out a blue wool overcoat and placed it on the counter. “This was my grandfather’s during the war. One of his RAF buddies gave it to him in exchange for the American version. The lining needs work, and the wool on the collar is frayed. Do you think you can fix it?”

Caitlin glanced over at Ianto and saw him wink in response. She had heard stories of how Jones Brothers had outfitted most of the troops prior to D-Day, making sure they left with all of their uniforms mended and up to snuff. While she had no idea how to repair it, she was sure Ianto was more than up to the task.

“It just so happens that I have access to an expert on historical clothing,” Caitlin smoothly replied. “Leave it with me and we can get it back to you within the week.”

“Really?” Jack asked giving her a mega-watt grin. “That should be just in time for my grand opening. Thank you so much!”

Caitlin handed him an order slip and as he filled it out she hung the coat up on a wooden hanger.

“All done,” Jack said, setting down his pen. Glancing around the shop he noticed Ianto standing near the shelves at the far side of the counter. “Oh no way!” he exclaimed running over to get a closer look at him. “He’s amazing! Where did you ever find him?”

Caitlin saw Ianto’s hand twitch and realized that his age old fear of being discovered and taken away was rising to the surface.

“Ianto’s been part of the Jones family for generations,” she quickly answered. “And before you ask, he’s not for sale.”

“No, no, I wouldn’t dream of asking,” Jack replied still looking at Ianto with awe. “I have a few antiques in my store, but nothing as handsome as your Ianto here.” He turned to Caitlin with a grin.

“Too bad he isn’t real; I would ask him out in a heartbeat!”

Caitlin rolled her eyes at his antics, and the bell over the door jingled announcing her first appointment of the day.

“That’s my cue,” Jack announced as a well-dressed man stepped into the shop. Sparing Ianto one last glance, he headed towards the door. “Nice to meet you Caitlin, Ianto,” he added before opening the door to step outside.

Caitlin shook her head and directed her customer to the dressing room to change for his fitting.

Once the coast was clear Ianto made his way to the shadows beside the window to watch Jack cross the street.

“He called me handsome,” he whispered to himself as he watched him go.

~~~~~~~~

Ianto spent the rest of the week, airing, cleaning, repairing, and revitalizing the well-worn RAF coat that Jack had left in his care. He had spent an entire afternoon watching as Jack prepared his window for the grand opening on Saturday. Mannequins dressed as a Geisha, a Victorian era gentlemen with a doctor’s bag, a policewoman, and a Hessian soldier now stood proudly in the shop window. Jack had taken his time and dressed each one personally, fiddling with the details to make sure everything was to his satisfaction.

The window drew a lot of attention, and Ianto found himself more and more curious about the enigmatic man who owned it. One morning as he stood at his post, Jack stopped and looked up at him, a wistful expression on his face that made Ianto’s wooden heart flutter. After a while, Jack had saluted him with his coffee cup and gone on his way, never knowing how much Ianto longed to call him back.

~~~~~~~~

Friday morning, Jack arrived back in the shop and it was all Ianto could do to keep still as he waited for his reaction to the repairs he had made.

He stood alongside the mirror where he could see him best and watched anxiously as Caitlin brought it up from the workroom.

“Wow!” Jack exclaimed when she took it out of the plastic cover to lay it on the counter. “Even the original buttons are back on it. Grandpa Davis would have been so excited to see this!”

Ianto felt his mouth drop open and quickly closed it. As he watched Jack talk to Caitlin he searched for signs that he might be who he thought he was. Other than the color of his eyes there was no real trace of Addie Jones in the man before him. He wanted so badly to ask him if he really was her and Sergeant Davis’ grandson, but kept quiet as he wasn’t sure how he would react to a mannequin asking him questions.

“Thanks for this,” Jack said, as Caitlin slid the coat back onto the hanger. “I’m going to wear it on Saturday, are you coming?”

Caitlin saw Ianto raise his eyebrow and tried not to roll her eyes.

“I’ll make a point of it,” she replied as she put his money in the till.

“Great. See you then!” Jack replied, and with a nod in Ianto’s direction he picked up his coat and left the store.

“What is with you?” Caitlin asked as Ianto started pacing, not even caring that he was near the window.

“Don’t you get it Lin?” he asked scratching the back of his neck in frustration. “Your grand-aunt Addie, the one who married an American G.I. and never came back; she married Sergeant Davis.”

Caitlin scrunched up her nose in confusion. “So?”

“So, if I am right, _Jack Harkness_ , the man who’s coat I spent the better part of a week repairing is Addie’s grandson,” Ianto said turning to look across the street.

As he did so he saw Jack standing on the steps of his shop looking across the street and squinting in their direction.

“Bloody hell!” Ianto exclaimed before crouching down behind an armchair and out of sight. “Do you think he saw me?”

“How the heck should I know?” Caitlin huffed. “Look Ianto. I know you like him. I’ve seen you pining after him as you stand in the window.”

Ianto stood up and leaned against the wall, trying to look innocent. 

“And he’s just as bad. He stares at you as well,” Caitlin said with a sigh. “So what if he _is_ Addie’s grandson? That makes him family right? And if he’s family, you can tell him.”

Ianto blinked at her owlishly. “But what if he thinks I’m a freak or wrong or…” he trailed off.

Caitlin put her hands on her hips. “Ianto Jones, you have spent all your life watching the world go by. Isn’t it about time you stopped watching and tried living for once?”

Ianto let out a deep breath and hung his head. “Alright, but first you have to find out if he’s really family,” he conceded. “I’ve managed to stay alive this long, and I don’t want to take any chances.”

Caitlin grinned. “Deal, but you are going to help me.”

“Somehow I was afraid you would say that,” Ianto replied warily.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Six**

Caitlin’s plan had involved her loaning Ianto to Jack for the grand opening. Ianto only went along with it after a lot of convincing on her part. After she left, Jack took him to the back room and whistled as he went to find the perfect outfit for him to wear. While Jack was gone, Ianto frantically searched his desk, finally stumbling upon a photo of Jack standing alongside a much older Addie on a porch covered in flowerpots.

“Princess,” Ianto breathed, tracing the lines of the older version of the face he once held so very dear.

“Gran always said you were too curious for your own good,” Jack replied from the doorway.

Ianto froze.

“But then again, she also said your curiosity was one of the things she loved about you most,” he continued taking the photo from Ianto’s trembling fingers.

“What are you going to do?” Ianto whispered, not daring to move.

“Well that depends on you,” Jack answered calmly.

Ianto turned to him in fear. “What do you mean?”

Jack smiled. “I’m not here to harm you,” he said placing the photo down on his desk. “I just wanted to know if Gran’s stories are true.”

Ianto stared at him in disbelief. “She’s still alive?” he asked, hoping it was true.

Jack nodded. “Took me in when my folks died in ’75. She’s almost eighty now, and a widower, but still smart as a whip.”

Ianto felt himself tear up and picked up the photo again. “Can I,” he swallowed trying to get himself under control. “Can I see her?”

Jack grinned. “I was hoping you would ask me that. This is the third store I’ve opened, but I did it here for a reason; I promised her I would look for you.”

Ianto let out a shuddering breath that came out as a low whistle. “I know she and Mattie lost touch, but I never suspected she missed me as well,” he said blinking back tears.

“Hey now, no need for that,” Jack soothed pulling Ianto in for a hug. “Tell you what,” he said wiping a tear from his cheek. “Why don’t I take you home and we can forget this hare-brained scheme Caitlin cooked up. I have a big day tomorrow, and I would love to meet the whole family and invite them to come; that is if you don’t mind?”

Ianto smiled, relishing the feeling of someone holding him close for the first time in ages.

“Sounds perfect,” he replied with a shy smile.

~~~~~~~~

Ianto and Jack arrived at Mattie’s later on that evening.

After the initial shock of finding his long lost grand-nephew, he called the rest of the family to come over, and all of them gathered round to call Addie together. Ianto watched from the sidelines, smiling to himself to see all of his family gathered together.

Jack looked up and caught his eye, giving him one of his face-splitting grins as he listened to his gran catch up with the family she had long thought lost.

Once everyone had their turn, he handed the phone over to Ianto, who held it in shaking hands as he tried to speak.

“Hello princess,” he said quietly, listening as Addie laughed in response.

“I’m so glad he found you,” she replied. “Jack’s a good boy Uncle Ianto, a bit cheeky, but that’s the Jones in him coming through.”

Ianto looked up and saw Jack watching him fondly. “Reminds me a bit of a girl I once knew who had a penchant for swiping cookies when her mum wasn’t looking,” he replied with a grin.

Addie laughed again, and the two fell into an easy conversation making up for lost time.

By the end of the evening, all of the Jones clan had agreed to stop by Jack’s shop the following day and Addie made them promise to keep in touch.

As Jack drove them back to Charles Street, Ianto felt more alive than he had in years and he couldn’t help but think it was all because of Jack.

~~~~~~~

The grand opening of _Out of Time_ was a great success, and even Ianto had enjoyed it wearing one of his carefully preserved vintage suits as he stood alongside Jack at the front counter. He stayed still most of the day, only moving when a wayward child or someone who seemed to believe in magic caught his eye. And then he would merely wink or smile before carefully settling his features as if nothing had happened.

“You were a bit mischievous today,” Caitlin observed after the last of the customers had left and they had returned to Jones Brothers so that Ianto could store his suit and prepare for the Monday rush.

“Taking a few risks and enjoying life for once,” she continued, watching him out of the corner of her eye as she sorted a shipment of ties and stepped off the ladder. “I think Cousin Jack is good for you.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Ianto protested, as he buttoned up a fresh shirt.

“Oh but I think you do,” Caitlin replied with a sly grin. “Just be careful, men like Jack can break hearts in the blink of an eye, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Ianto rolled his eyes.

“Well these are done and I’m off,” she announced slipping on her jacket. “Do you want to come with or are you staying here?”

“I’m too wired to sleep,” Ianto replied. “You go on Lin, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Caitlin smiled and headed for the door. “He’s living in the apartment above the shop,” she said as she unlocked it. “But then I bet you already know that don’t you?” she added watching Ianto stare at her in mock horror.

“Why Caitlin Jones, are you implying that I am a peeping Tom?” Ianto asked sounding affronted.

“More like a peeping Ianto,” she replied with glee before skipping out the door.

Ianto chased after her and stuck out his tongue before closing the door and locking it behind her.

The sound of laughter echoed behind her as she walked down the street.

Ianto shook his head and glanced through the window up at the light on in the apartment above Jack’s shop. Sure he knew he lived up there, and okay fine, maybe he had seen him through the window now and then. But it had never been deliberate. Well, not really.

~~~~~~~~

After the opening, Jack and the Joneses settled into a regular pattern of Sunday dinners and getting to know one another better. Ianto found himself being dragged all over Newport as Jack demanded that he act as his guide.

Because of the need to keep Ianto safe, they tended to go out at night after the shops closed, taking in movies and walking in the park. As fall set in, they took a chance and attended a concert at Riverfront Arts Centre, and after seeing Ianto’s face as he heard live music for the first time, Jack brought them back again and again.

Christmas neared and Jack said his goodbyes as he went home to be with Addie, promising to return after the New Year. Before he left, he gave Ianto a mobile as a present, the only number he had programmed in it was his own.

“I expect you to call me every day,” Jack had ordered before sweeping him up into a hug and kissing his cheek.

Overwhelmed, Ianto just nodded and clutched it in his hand.

“See you soon Jones, Ianto Jones!” Jack called out before getting in his car and heading to the airport.

Ianto watched from the shop door long after the car had disappeared from sight.

He kept his word and called Jack every evening, relishing the sound of his voice as he counted the days until he returned, and wondering if he was doing the same.

As the fireworks boomed overhead, announcing the start of 2006, Ianto reflected on the past year, and smiled as he remembered how often Jack had made him smile. After being lonely for so very long, it seemed that Ianto had finally found a little happiness of his own. It was simple really and oh so terrifying when he realized just what had changed.

He had fallen in love.  



	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven**

_Two Months Later_

“Stop it!” Caitlin growled as Ianto paced the shop floor for the hundredth time. “You’re driving me mad!”

“He should have been here by now,” he replied glancing anxiously up at the clock.

Jack’s return to Newport had been delayed due to business concerns with his main store in Houston, but he had kept in touch with Ianto during his absence via daily calls recounting his day. After two months, Jack was due to return this afternoon and Ianto was nervous. His love for Jack continued to grow stronger every day, and he had made up his mind that once he saw Jack in person, he would tell him how he really felt.  He’d been rehearsing his declaration speech in his head all morning, memorizing every detail and trying to anticipate every outcome. As the minutes ticked slowly past, he had grown restless, and started pacing the store.

“Twisting yourself up in knots isn’t helping anyone,” Caitlin advised as she tore off the thread of the trousers she was hemming. “Why don’t you start on the Darnby order; might take your mind off of things for a bit.”

Ianto glanced out the window, and seeing that Jack’s SUV was nowhere in sight sighed and went to the workroom at the back of the store.

Two hours later, he was half way through the waistcoat lining of Darnby’s suit when the bell over the door announced a customer.

“Anyone home?” called out a familiar voice. “Caitlin? Ianto? Are you in?”

Ianto glanced up at Caitlin, who had come back to help him finish the suit, was grinning back at him.

“Go,” she said shaking her head.

Ianto grinned back and set his work aside. Throwing back the curtains over the door, he checked his tie and smoothed his waistcoat in a nearby mirror before quickly hurrying to the front of the shop.

When he reached the entryway, he skidded to a stop as when he saw Jack bending over to look behind the counter in the hope of finding them. Grinning wider, he was about to step forward but stopped when he noticed that Jack was not alone.

“Who’s he?” Caitlin asked crossing her arms in anger as she entered the front of the shop. Ianto stood still as a statue beside her, frightened at the possibility of being discovered.

“There you are!” Jack replied straightening up and flashing his trademark grin.  
Ianto watched in confusion as Jack took the other man by his hand and pulled him towards them.

“Caitlin, Ianto, I want you to meet John Hart,” Jack said proudly as he drew the other man to his side. Seeing the shocked look on Caitlin’s face, he hastened to continue. “He’s my fiancé,” he added as the two men shared a smile.

Ianto felt his heart clench, how had be missed this? Jack had never mentioned a fiancé before now; surely there must be some mistake?

“Fiancé?” Caitlin asked, eyeing the other man suspiciously. “You never mentioned him before. When did this happen?” she demanded.

“I’ve known John for years,” Jack answered. “We lost touch a few years back and when I ran into him over the holidays, things just happened,” he said with a shrug. “He asked me, and well here we are.”

Ianto stared in disbelief as Jack raised John’s hand to his lips and kissed it.

“So you just decided to trust him with Jones family secrets and didn’t bother to ask first?” Caitlin asked through narrowed eyes.

“We’re getting married,” Jack reasoned. “He’s going to be family soon, and I know he can be trusted,” he added as Caitlin scowled.

“Well I don’t know him or trust him,” Ianto replied crossing his arms and breaking his silence.

“Oh my God! It’s true!” John exclaimed staring at Ianto in wonder.

“I told you!” Jack replied laughing as John stepped away from him to get a closer look at Ianto.

After looking him up and down, John’s lips curled into a sly smile as he reached out to touch Ianto’s face.

Recognizing the same predatory gleam in his eyes that Mr. Lundry had all those years ago, Ianto neatly stepped out of his reach.

“Kindly keep your hands to yourself if you please,” he snapped as he backed away from him.

“But how’s it done?” John asked searching Ianto’s face for the gear or a mechanism that enabled his movement. “Surely there’s a scientific explanation for a mannequin being able to think and speak?”

“Oh he’s very much alive,” Jack replied stepping forward to put his arm around Ianto’s shoulders. “Grandma used to say Uncle Ianto is magic,” he added as he gathered Ianto in a one armed hug.

“Yes, well,” Ianto stuttered, flustered at suddenly having Jack so close. “Magic or not, you should have asked me first.”

“You’re not mad are you?” Jack asked with concern as he turned to face him.

Ianto licked his lips and sighed as Jack held him by his biceps. The simple contact sent a wave of warmth throughout his body that made it hard to concentrate.

“Just ask me next time okay,” he finally managed to say.

“Deal,” Jack answered leaning forward to kiss his forehead. Ianto leaned into it for a moment, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again Jack was smiling down at him, and he couldn’t help but return it.

“Well I have a store to attend to and a wedding to plan,” he said as he patted Ianto’s arm in dismissal and started moving toward the door. “We’re hosting a dinner for the entire Jones family at my place on Saturday, and I have a surprise for both of you so don’t be late!” he called out over his shoulder as he pulled it open and stepped outside. John gave Ianto one last calculating look, before giving him a curt nod of farewell and following Jack out of the shop.

Once they were gone, Ianto stood for a moment trying to process what had just happened, before collapsing into a heap on the floor.

“Oh Ianto,” Caitlin said as she wiped the tears off of his varnished face. “I am so sorry.”

“It’s all right Lin,” Ianto whispered as she pulled him close. “I should have known better. How could Jack ever love someone like me?”

Caitlin tried to reassure him that there was someone for everyone, and maybe Jack just wasn’t the right person, but as Ianto dried his tears and stoically returned to his work, she feared that for Ianto there would never be anyone else for him but Jack.

~~~~~~~~

True to his word, Jack hosted a dinner that Saturday with most of the Jones family in attendance. The only notable absence was Ianto, who had decided to remain behind at the shop rather than torture himself watching the happy couple.

Later that night he decided to take a walk through Beechwood Park, remembering how all those years ago he had helped Archie gather up the courage to ask Maureen to the park sponsored dance. Dressed in his winter coat against the frosty air, he stopped to leave cluster of forget-me-nots on the weathered heart stone in the rose garden before making his way to the deserted bandstand. Humming a long forgotten tune, he closed his eyes and imagined what it must have been like to see all of those couples dancing on the green.

“I thought I might find you here,” a familiar voice interrupted his reverie. Ianto turned to find Jack bundled up in his greatcoat watching him. “You didn’t come,” he said as he ascended the steps to join him.

“I didn’t think I would be missed,” Ianto replied evenly.

“I wanted you there,” Jack responded, voice laced with hurt. “I was going to ask you to be my best man.”

Ianto turned away from him and closed his eyes, willing his heart not to break further as Jack stepped closer.

“Ianto?” he asked when he didn’t reply. “I-I thought you would be pleased.”

“Pleased?” Ianto laughed bitterly, the sound echoing over the empty green. “Aside from the Joneses everyone else will see me as a freak. Even your fiancé looks at me like some kind of experiment that he can’t wait to take apart. I’m not human and I will never be truly real, so if you don’t mind, I am afraid I will have to respectfully decline your request on point of personal ridicule.”

As Ianto finished his rant, Jack didn’t speak, but merely stared back at him, his face a mirror of hurt and disbelief that made the tears Ianto had managed to keep at bay start to prick at his eyes once more.

Desperate to keep at least some of his dignity intact, Ianto strode past him toward the stairs.

“You’re real to me,” Jack said quietly, causing Ianto to pause on the top step.

“I mean it,” Jack said as he stepped closer. “All my life Grandma Addie has told me how amazing her Uncle Ianto is, but she never told me about the selfless love you have for others, how much passion you carry inside, or how absolutely beautiful you are,” he added as he reached out to touch Ianto’s face and turn his face toward him.

“I’m sorry Jack,” he whispered as he leaned into his touch. “But I can’t be part of your wedding.”

“Why not?” Jack asked his brow crinkling in confusion as he dropped his hand.

Ianto held his gaze before slowly leaning forward to capture his lips in a soft kiss.

“That’s why,” he breathed as he pulled back to gauge his reaction.

Jack stared back at him wide-eyed.

“I don’t, I mean I can’t…” he sputtered as Ianto’s face fell.

“Of course,” Ianto replied in defeat as he released him. “I apologize for my presumption, and wish you nothing but happiness in your marriage to John,” he said bowing his head slightly.

Before Jack could respond, Ianto turned on his heel and fled.

Jack stood inside the bandstand long after he disappeared, staring into the darkness in contemplation as his lips tingled from Ianto’s unexpected kiss.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Eight**

_Jones Brothers_  
_Monday Morning_

“Where is he?” a voice roared as the shop door banged open.

Caitlin told Ianto to stay in the back as she went to confront a belligerent John Hart.

“Can I help you sir?” she asked, hoping to calm him down. Glancing through the workroom curtains,  
Ianto saw John pacing the storefront like an angry lion, and decided to pull out his mobile in case he needed to call for help.

“You want to help me? Fine! Bring that wooden sideshow out here to face me like the man he pretends to be!” John raged back at her.

“If you are referring to Ianto, I am afraid he isn’t here at the moment,” Caitlin smoothly replied not rising to John’s bait. “Perhaps I can give him a message?”

“Damn straight you can,” he snarled back. “You tell that two-bit Charlie McCarthy wannabe that Jack has called off the wedding after talking to him and I want to know why.”

Ianto’s mind reeled. Had Jack really called off the wedding because of him? As the implications of the answer sunk in, he heard Caitlin inform John that he needed to leave before she called the police. After knocking over a tie rack and one of the armchairs, the door slammed shut, announcing that John had left.

“Well he’s a real charmer,” Caitlin snarked rolling her eyes as Ianto came in from the back with a stunned expression on his face.

“He called off the wedding?” Ianto clarified watching as John slammed the door to his car and drove away.

“It appears so,” she acknowledged with a knowing grin. “Spill,” she demanded spinning Ianto around and dropping him into the remaining armchair. “And don’t play coy; I know you know why Jack called it off.”

Before he could answer, Ianto’s phone beeped, signaling he had a new text message.

_Need to talk. Meet me at store tonight at 10PM – J_

Ianto smiled and showed her the message. “I’m not 100% sure, but I think kissing him Saturday night might have had something to do with it,” Ianto said, prompting Caitlin to squeal in excitement.

As the two friends talked, Ianto couldn’t help but wonder what Jack would say when they met.  
For the first time since he had returned with John in tow, Ianto’s heart was filled with hope.

~~~~~~~~~

_Out of Time – 10PM that evening_

“Jack?” Ianto called out as he stepped into the darkened shop.

The door had been left unlocked and Ianto decided to head to Jack’s office, assuming that he must be waiting inside. Hanging his coat and hat on the coat rack outside the office door, he took a breath to calm his nerves and pushed open the door.

But there was no one there.

Frowning, Ianto pulled out his mobile and dialed Jack’s number.

“Ianto?” Jack answered sounding surprised at the call.

“Jack where are you?” Ianto answered. “Your text said to meet at the costume shop at 10PM, the door was unlocked but there’s no one here.”

“What text?” Jack asked confused. “I lost my phone yesterday and all my calls are forwarding to my new number. I haven’t even figured out how to text on this thing yet.”

Before Ianto could answer, he felt something hard and metal pressing into his lower back.

“Say goodbye, Eye-Candy,” hissed a voice behind him.

“Ianto?” Jack asked sounding worried. “I heard another voice. Are you okay? Is someone there with you?”

Before Ianto could answer, his phone was plucked from his hand and thrown to the concrete floor where it broke into pieces.

Turning around to face his attacker, Ianto was only mildly surprised to find John Hart scowling back at him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, noting the heavy gloves he was wearing and the protective goggles dangling from his neck. 

“Eliminating a problem,” he replied, holding up the handheld blowtorch that he had shoved into Ianto’s back with a sinister smile.

Ianto flinched and stepped back as John flicked the switch to ignite it.

“You ruined everything,” John spat using the blowtorch flame to push Ianto out the office door toward the storage area at the back of the building. “Jack was finally mine; after all those years I waited, he finally gave me a chance,” He continued, motioning Ianto on. “He even said yes when I proposed, and then he threw it all away to play around with a life sized doll.”

They came to a stop and Ianto glanced behind him, realizing that they had reached the cold storage locker at the back of the building; a remnant from the shop’s former life as a greengrocer’s.

As John gestured for him to stand alongside the locker door, his plan became clear: John meant to seal Ianto inside the steel confines of the locker, burning him to cinders and blaming it on a burglar or an arsonist, before sweeping in to comfort Jack.

Realizing he had to find a way out before John trapped him inside, Ianto searched through the dim haze of the single light bulb overhead for a way out. In the shadows along the far wall he could just make out the steel delivery door leading to the back alley. It was locked for certain, but most likely his only chance to escape.

“Can we talk about this?” Ianto pleaded as John threw the locker door open. “I don’t know why Jack left you. When I saw him last, he was asking me to stand up with him at your wedding.”

John laughed.

“You really have no idea do you?” he said moving the blowtorch closer so Ianto was forced to step inside. “Jack and I have dated off and on for the better part of five years,” he said as he picked up a can of petrol from alongside the locker door and set it inside. “When he left for Wales, he said he was going to look for a family friend, and that he wanted to see if the stories about him were true,” he continued as he kicked over the can spilling the contents onto the locker floor.

Ianto jumped back as the liquid splashed up onto his shoes.

“So he came to look for me. What does that have to do with you?” Ianto asked trying to stall as John moved another can into position.

“Everything!” John exclaimed kicking the second can in his direction. Ianto turning to the side, barely managing to dodge the can before it slammed into the wall behind him. “He came back happier than I have ever seen him. He was giddy and so full of life that I fell for him all over again. Stupidly, I thought he had fallen for me too.”

Ianto watched in horror as he increased the power to the torch and the blue flame increased, illuminating the glint of bitter anger in his eyes.

“But it was all al lie, wasn’t it Jack?” John asked, turning to place his back against the doorjamb so that he could still keep an eye on Ianto while Jack crept out of his hiding place.

“You’re wrong John,” Jack answered as he stepped into the light.

“Any closer and only ashes will remain of your beloved Mr. Jones,” he warned, causing Jack to raise his hands and slow his approach.

“What are you going to prove by this?” Jack asked, as he came to a halt beside him. “Ianto hasn’t done anything to harm you, why take our breakup out on him?”

“He stole you from me!” John bit back at him holding the blowtorch out to keep him in place. “After finally deciding to have a real relationship with me, you threw me aside for a possessed piece of wood. Did you think I would just stand by and let that happen?”

“I made a mistake,” Jack replied sadly, dropping his hands.

John lowered the blowtorch as a look of hope crossed his features.

“You and I would never work John,” Jack clarified. “Physically no problem, but morally…” he glanced at Ianto as he trailed off. “Ianto is only a part of the reason why. I should have ended this a long time ago, but I thought things could work out despite our differences. I got caught up in the romance of it all and let things go too far. For that I am truly sorry.”

“I don’t believe you,” John answered raising the blowtorch once more.

Seeing an opening, Ianto rushed to tackle John before the flame could ignite the gas coated floor.

As the two men struggled, the blowtorch slipped free and rolled into the locker, causing a fireball to erupt inside and engulf the room in a burst of flame.

Ianto managed to shove himself away from John just in the nick time, rolling his way across the room. Gasping for breath, he staggered to his feet and tried to get his bearings. The entire locker was full of fire, and the gas inside had leaked out onto the floor, creating a wall of flame, trapping Ianto and Jack along the brick wall at the back of the building.

Jack lay unconscious on the floor nearby, and Ianto rushed to his side to see if he was alright. The fireball had thrown him back against the far wall, knocking him unconscious, and blood marred his forehead from the impact. Hoisting him up, Ianto pulled him as far away from the flames as he could and propped him up against the steel door leading to the alley behind the shop.

“Get help!” Ianto shouted to John where he stood on the other side as the flames grew higher.

“What about Jack?” John shouted back, trying not to cough as smoke began to fill the room.

“Throw me something to open the door,” Ianto answered, pointing to an old workbench along the wall behind him.

John frantically searched for tools, but only found a few rusty nails and an old paint can. Slamming his fist into the wall in frustration, he heard something clank as it fell near his feet. Crouching down to investigate, he found a rusty hammer buried in the dust.

Calling out to get Ianto’s attention, he tossed the hammer through the flames towards him, grimacing as Ianto stepped too close, catching his arm on fire as he caught it.

“Your arm!” John yelled, and Ianto quickly snuffed out the flames using a tattered burlap bag he had found discarded near the door. Once the flames were out, he turned back to John.

Their eyes met, and Ianto saw the fear that John held now that his plans had gone so horribly wrong. Knowing that he had precious little time to save Jack before the fire reached them, he decided to reassure John so that he would go and get help.

“I’ll save him,” he vowed holding his gaze.

Glancing to Jack and back again, he nodded once in acknowledgement before turning to go.

After he left, a second burst erupted from the locker. Covering Jack with his body, Ianto realized it must have been the other petrol can. Looking down to make sure Jack was far enough away from the encroaching fire, he picked up the hammer and got to work.

He was going to save Jack’s life no matter what, even if it meant forfeiting his own in the process.

After hammering at the door for several minutes he’d managed to pry the frame of it free, but the bolt had rusted shut and refused to budge. The workbench caught fire and the new source of fuel caused the flames to start crawling over the ceiling and down the wall to where Jack rested, still unconscious from the initial blast. Ianto gathered Jack up and propped him against the door in front of him, hoping that the steel would keep the flames at bay long enough that they could escape. As he frantically worked to dislodge the locking mechanism of the door, Jack groaned.

“What happened?” he asked looking blearily up at Ianto as he continued attempting to break open the lock.

“John tried to torch me, you intervened and he dropped the blowtorch setting the entire place on fire, and if we don’t get out of here soon, we are both going to die,” Ianto grit out as he kept working.

“You stayed behind?” Jack asked, wincing and grabbing his head as he staggered to his feet. 

“Had. To. Save. You,” Ianto grunted as he slammed the lock again, this time feeling the slightest bit of give on impact.

Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Ianto nodded and resumed his assault.

Jack joined him and with the added force the lock started to move a little more.

“Once more should do it,” Jack panted as the two of them tried again.

But the strain on the hammer proved too much and the handle broke in two.

“Now what?” Ianto asked in frustration holding the broken pieces in his hands.

“Now we knock it down,” Jack answered with a grin.

The two of them began slamming themselves against the door trying to force it open as the flames trailed over the top of the door and the space behind them shrank.

Jack started coughing, but Ianto kept at it, even as the flames began to creep up the back of his legs.

“You’re on fire!” Jack coughed as he struggled to stay on his feet.

“Got to,” Ianto said slamming into the door. “Get you,” he slammed into it again. “Out,” he finished slamming into it once more.

Jack coughed harder and yelped as the flames reached his shoes.

Ianto slammed against it one last time and the door burst open, spilling them into the alley.

After shutting it behind them to keep the fire from spreading, Jack grabbed Ianto and rolled him on the cobblestone street, dousing the flames covering his body in a nearby puddle with an angry hiss. Sitting back on his heels, he checked to make sure the flames were completely out. Ianto’s entire right leg was scorched black, and if the charred state of his suit was any indication, the damage beneath it would probably be even worse.

“Are you alright?” Ianto asked in a raspy voice as Jack looked down at him in concern.

“Just a bit singed and a tad smoky,” he answered coughing again. “It’s you I’m worried about. We have to get you out of here.”

Ianto tried to sit up and immediately fell back down.

“I fear my heroics might have been a bit detrimental to my well-being,” he winced as his head smacked the pavement. “But it was worth it to save you,” he added with a soft smile.

“You’re going to be just fine,” Jack answered with tears in his eyes. “Caitlin will have my hide if you aren’t. Please Ianto,” he begged as he watched him cringe in pain.

“I’m sorry Jack,” Ianto answered, struggling to keep his eyes open. He heard his heartbeat, the ever present comfort that had kept him company through all of his long life, start to slow and knew that the magic that kept him alive must be fading.

“I love you,” he managed to whisper, giving Jack one last smile before closing his eyes as the darkness set in.

Tears streaked down Jack’s face as he realized Ianto was gone.

“I wish,” Jack sobbed stroking the too still face. “I wish I had told you sooner, I wish you could hear me now, I wish we had more time, I wish so many things,” he whispered coughing as clouds gathered above them and rain started to fall. “But most of all I wish you knew that I loved you too,” he said, bending down to kiss Ianto’s lips in farewell as the sound of sirens wailed in the distance.

Knowing he had little time to hide Ianto before they arrived, Jack set him down and coughed his way through the alley, searching frantically for somewhere to keep him safe until he could retrieve him and grieve properly. As he searched, thunder rolled ominously overhead and a single bolt of lightning struck the ground near Ianto’s prone form. Jack covered his eyes against the blast, and when he looked back, he saw that Ianto was gone, and a man was lying in his place.

Bending down beside him, Jack turned him over and gasped at the familiar features. Wiping the soot from his hands onto his coat, he checked for a pulse and leaned down to make sure that he was still breathing. The man groaned and coughed, opening his blue eyes for a moment and grasping Jack’s hand before closing them again.

Jack was so stunned he barely registered when the paramedics arrived a few minutes later. After prying Jack’s hand away, they went to work checking both of them over, trying to ascertain their injuries.

“Do you know who he is?” one of them asked Jack as the two of them were loaded into the waiting ambulance.

“Ianto Jones,” Jack replied grinning like a loon. “And he’s alive!” he added with a slightly manic laugh before passing out from a heavy dose of painkillers.

~~~~~~~~

Ianto awoke two days later to find Jack snoring in an armchair beside him.

Blinking back sleep laden eyes, he realized that he was in a hospital. Someone must have made a mistake and brought him here, thinking he was human and needed treatment. He wasn’t sure how he had managed to stay undetected, but he knew he needed to get out of there soon before someone noticed what he really was.

“Jack,” he croaked, trying to get his attention.

Jack snorted and leaned forward, blinking awake as his chin hit his chest. Clearing his throat and rubbing his eyes, he turned and saw a scared set of blue eyes watching him.

“You’re awake!” Jack exclaimed, leaning into the bed and taking Ianto’s hand in his own.

“How did I get here?” Ianto asked hoarsely.

“The paramedics brought you,” Jack replied with a smile.

“What? How did they not notice?” Ianto asked starting to panic. “We have to get out of here now before they figure it out and-“

“You need to calm down,” Jack interrupted, rubbing the back of Ianto’s hand with his thumb. “You’ve been asleep for days; the doctor said you have to take it slow.”

“Doctor? Slow?” Ianto asked in confusion. “I don’t sleep Jack, you know that. I don’t understand, any doctor worth his credentials must have noticed that-“

He stopped his rant when Jack took a small pink compact mirror from his shirt pocket and held it up.

“Caitlin said you would probably need proof. Should have known she would be right,” Jack said with a grin.

Ianto stared at his reflection. Yesterday, well three days ago apparently, his reflection had been nothing more than a cleverly painted facsimile of a man. But today, even though the features were the same, the face staring back at him was human, and oh so very real.

“How?” Ianto whispered reaching up to touch the upturned tip of his nose, to confirm that it was truly his.

“Not sure,” Jack shrugged. “You said you loved me, and well you just stopped. I-,” he stopped and looked away as if watching the scene replay at a distance. “I said I loved you too, and wished I had told you sooner before kissing you and trying to find a place to keep you safe when the paramedics came.”

He turned back to face Ianto, who was watching him wide-eyed. “There was a lot of thunder and then lightning struck filling the alley with light, and when I went to check and make sure it missed you, you were like this.”

Ianto looked down at their joined hands and stared.

“I’m human?” he asked.

“100% according to your doctor,” Jack answered.

Ianto was silent for a moment as he tried to process what had happened. When he looked up at Jack, tears were swimming in his eyes.

“Thank you,” he whispered giving him a watery smile.

Jack gave him a lopsided grin in return and reached out to wipe the tear from his face.

“There’s nothing to thank me for,” Jack said bringing his hand to rest over where a tattoo resembling the intricately carved heart Hamish had made now rested on the left side of Ianto’s chest. “I have a feeling that whatever magic in that heartwood brought you to life decided it was high time you got a chance at some happiness and love of your own.”

Ianto’s breath hitched as he realized what Jack was saying.

“Love?” he echoed, just to make sure.

“Love,” Jack confirmed. “And if you don’t mind Mr. Jones, I really want to kiss you.”  
Ianto chuckled, watching in wonder as Jack cupped his face and leaned in to capture his lips.

As the kiss deepened, Ianto sighed in contentment.

After so many years of watching the sidelines and hiding in the shadows, he had found love at last.


	10. Chapter 10

**Epilogue**

_One Month Later_

John Hart had confessed to the arson, but Jack and Ianto had decided to drop the charges as the store was only partially damaged, and John had agreed to see a counselor and adhere to a court imposed order to keep his distance.

The Jones family had welcomed Ianto home with open arms and Ianto was overwhelmed with all the new sensations of being truly alive. Jack and Caitlin had spent an entire afternoon preparing dish after dish so that Ianto could smell and taste as much as possible.

To Caitlin’s endless amusement, after perfecting Maureen’s legendary style of tea years before, Ianto found he hated the stuff and preferred coffee instead. Jack made a point of buying a state of the art coffee maker for the flat they now shared to keep up with his java habit, and less than a week later, he was making coffee that made his tea look like dishwater.

The only shadow over his newfound happiness was Mattie’s death. Ianto was there to hold his hand as he passed on, and vowed to keep one last promise to the rebellious boy who had grown into a close friend.

~~~~~~~~

A month after he awoke in the hospital, Ianto and Jack were standing outside of a yellow and white farm house in the warm Texas sun. Stopping at the start of the path to the front door, Ianto fidgeted with his tie, suddenly scared to go any further.

“Do you think she’ll recognize me?” he asked as Jack batted his hands away and straightened his tie for him. “I mean I promised Mattie I would come see her, but what if she doesn’t know me?”

“Of course she will,” Jack reassured him. Seeing the worried look in Ianto’s eyes, Jack leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. “Now quit worrying and get your cute butt moving.”

Ianto let out a breath and squaring his shoulders, started towards the house.

As they reached the flowerpot covered porch, Ianto raised his hand to knock, before hesitating a second time.

Jack rolled his eyes and pushed the doorbell four times in quick succession.

“Oi! Keep your shirt on!” called a feisty female voice from inside. A few minutes later the screen door opened and a silver haired woman with dancing eyes stepped onto the porch.

“I was wondering if you were ever going to come up the walk,” she teased as Jack engulfed her in a bear hug.

“Now be nice,” Jack scolded as he pulled back. “He’s come a long way and had to make sure he was presentable before he saw you.”

“Well let’s hope he has better manners then that Hart bloke,” Addie answered with a laugh.  
Ianto smiled. He would know the infectious laugh of Addie Jones anywhere. Silver haired or not, she still looked just the same.

“Oh trust me Gran,” Jack said with a wink, “I have absolutely no doubt you will love my new partner every bit as much as I do.”

Shaking her head fondly, Addie turned to greet Jack’s new beau and Ianto saw the moment she recognized him.

“Ianto?” she whispered stepping out of Jack’s arms with her hand covering her mouth in shock.

“Hello Princess,” he replied with a smile.

Addie took a step closer and reached up to cup his cheek.

“It really is you,” she whispered.

“It’s all Jack’s doing,” Ianto replied, glancing over to where Jack leaned against a post smiling at the two of them.

“You did this?” Addie asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned back to her grandson. “I may be in my eighties now, but I know the smell of half-truths when I hear them,” she said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. “Jackson Davis Harkness, you better tell me what the heck is going on, and make it quick young man!” she snapped.

Ianto snorted. “You sound just like Maureen,” he said biting his lip and failing miserably at keeping his laughter contained.

Addie turned to stare him down, but could only hold the glare a moment before her lips twitched and the two of them gave up and started laughing outright.

Amused to see his two favorite people descend into what could be easily described as a giggle fit, Jack pushed off the post and came over to gather them both up in his arms.

“You aren’t getting out of this,” Addie said wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes. “I still want to know how you found a way for Ianto to finally be human after so long.”

Jack pulled Ianto closer to him as he let Addie settle into a nearby rocker to catch her breath. “It’s quite simple really,” he explained as he turned Ianto’s chin towards him and leaned down to capture his lips in a gentle kiss.

“Was it a kiss or was there a bit, you know, something more?” Addie asked, grinning as Ianto flush red.  

“Addie!” Ianto replied, scandalized.

Addie rolled her eyes. “At my age I call it like I see it,” she replied with a smirk. “Besides, I know my grandson, and I haven’t seen stars in his eyes like that in years.”

Ianto turned to look at Jack, who stared back at him with all the hope and love he had always wanted shining on his face.

“I think it was one thing in particular that made the magic decide to grant my fondest wish,” Ianto replied, taking Jack’s hand in his and raising it to his lips.”

“And what was that?” Addie asked transfixed as the two men shared a knowing look.

“Love Addie,” Ianto replied sighing contentedly as he realized it was true. “Somehow, inexplicably without reason, we fell in love.”

As Jack pulled Ianto in for another kiss, Addie smiled.

~~~~~~~~

Far away in a crystalline cave deep in the Black Mountains, Merlin moved his hand over the water inside his scrying bowl and let the image fade, happy in the knowledge that the wish of the Rhoddin Coed had come true at long last.  



End file.
